1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to liquid repellant compositions, a method of repelling animals and a method of manufacture of a repellant composition.
2. Description of Prior Art
Various types of repellant compositions are well known in the art. The nature of the repellant composition will vary depending upon the species of animal, bird or insect which it is intended to repel. Many of the known repellants are based on man made chemicals and for this reason, are not considered desirable for ecological reasons. Many repellant compositions have also been proposed which are environmentally friendly in that they utilize naturally occurring ingredients. Among such repellants are those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,304 which teaches the use of a composition for repelling birds. This bird repelling composition includes a finely divided garlic constituent and a finely divided cayenne pepper constituent. The patentee notes that neither black pepper nor white pepper is suitable for use. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,517 shows pepper extract has been also used as an insecticide.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,637 teaches the use of a rodent repellant powder which uses a thujone oil with a powder which can be selected from a number of different products including tobacco dust, pepper powder, sulphur powder, etc. The thujone oil is derived from the cedar tree and is a natural repellant.
More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,474 has shown that a composition providing a finely divided powder having essential oils of black pepper, capsicum and an oleoresin can be an effective repellant against a wide variety of animals such as dogs, cats, raccoons, skunks, mice, rats, squirrels, chipmunks, deer, etc. The disclosure in U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,474 is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification as if fully set forth in its entirety.
However, the dry repellent formula of U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,474 is limited in its application because it can not be used on vertical or ceiling surfaces, applied in difficult to reach locations, or utilized on surfaces where the granules can be hazardous, such as sidewalks, patios, paths, and other walkways.
Until the present invention, a liquid formulation of the composition of essential oils of black pepper, capsicum and an oleoresin was not successful. There were two major problems with making a liquid formulation. First was solubility. The essential oils and oleoresin do not ordinarily mix well in an aqueous solution. The inventors of the present invention succeeded in identifying appropriate emulsifiers and suspension agents that would solubilize the active ingredients and also be non-toxic and environmentally friendly.
Furthermore, the inventors also succeeded in creating a liquid repellant comprising the above essential oils and oleoresins together with one or more adhesive compositions which surprisingly increased the longevity of the liquid formulation and made the invention useful in areas where the prior art dry only repellant was not effective.
Until now there has not been an adequate animal repellant formulation containing essential oils and oleoresins that was capable of being applied as a liquid and was also environmentally safe and non-toxic.